Spain to go ahead with sale of bombs to Saudi - El Periodico

This content was published on September 12, 2018 4:28 PMSep 12, 2018 - 16:28

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain will go ahead with the sale of 400 laser-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia, a contract it had decided to halt last week because of the Saudis' role in the war in Yemen, El Periodico newspaper said on Wednesday citing diplomatic sources.

The defence ministry declined to comment.

The newspaper said the defence ministry had told the Gulf kingdom on Wednesday morning the contract would be fulfilled.

According to Spanish media, Saudi Arabia had threatened to cancel a 1.8 billion euro contract with Spain to buy warships if the bomb sale did not take place.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups have denounced Western arms sales to Saudi Arabia and its allies, fighting a war in Yemen which the United Nations says has killed more than 10,000 people and left 8.4 million on the brink of famine.